School chief says security is a priority
North Nodaway
An incident Monday morning at North Nodaway High School in Hopkins, where a student allegedly brought a handgun to school, has once again brought security measures to the attention of Nodaway County educators and parents.
According to North Nodaway Superintendent James Simmelink, the district enforces numerous security measures and works frequently to update them.
“All of our doors are locked at all times,” Simmelink said. “We have that in place in both buildings. We have protocols in place for different types of emergency situations, and we work with the staff on those. For whatever situation arises, we have something in place for staff to follow and then minimize whatever situation it is.”
Simmelink has been at North Nodaway for five years, and said the system of locked doors and buzzers was installed before his arrival.
Staying up to date on security protocol is something Simmelink said he feels strongly about. He said he and his two principals work with the faculty and staff throughout the year to make sure everyone understands what to do in the case of an intruder or active-shooter threat.
“The building principals work well with the staff on the different possible situations,” Simmelink said. “They talk the situations through with them. We do drills on a regular basis. Something such as this incident happens less frequently, thankfully. But we have protocols in place for people to follow.”
As it happens, Simmelink said, North Nodaway has re-evaluated a number of security measures in just the last few weeks.
“About three weeks ago, I met with someone from Northwest Missouri State University,” Simmelink said. “They are taking a look at our emergency plans, and I worked with John Carr, who is the program coordinator for emergency disaster management, so we’re having our protocols reviewed by someone in the know and someone that’ll help us ensure we have everything in place. We’re looking forward to seeing the report when it’s finished.”
Simmelink said one of the main reasons why he wanted the report is the growing debate about how to manage intruder and active-shooter threats.
“As an administrative team, we were talking earlier in the year about protocols,” Simmelink said. “I also shared this with the board of education.
“In the past, we were always told when an intruder came in with a weapon, we were supposed to go into rooms and lock the doors. Now, there seems to be some notion that you should flee the building, and we had that conversation. We wanted to know what the professionals were saying, and if it was different than what our protocols were.
“We wanted to make sure we had the most up to date, most accurate information that we could.”
Simmelink declined to disclose full details about the school’s threat protocols in order to avoid compromising building security.
As for Monday’s incident and the ramifications for the student involved, Simmelink said he plans to follow district policy.
According to North Nodaway’s student handbook, first-offense possession or use of a firearm, or any instrument or device defined as a dangerous weapon, may result in suspension or expulsion for one year. A subsequent offense can lead to expulsion.
